Vol. 573 No. 1
185 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the progress made to date in acquiring a property in the Tallaght area for the proposed regional office of his Department; the proposed work this office will undertake when it is up and running; the likely date the office will open; the range of services that will be made available to the local community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24448/03]
The Office of Public Works is currently in the process of finalising the procurement of accommodation for the proposed regional office for my Department in Tallaght. Until the accommodation arrangements have been finalised it is not possible to say when the office will be in operation.
It is intended that the regional offices will provide a single point of contact for information and advice on the education services available in each region; act as a first point of contact for interests at regional level wishing to address educational disadvantage; ensure the complementarity of initiatives to tackle disadvantage; represent the Department at regional level on city and county development boards and other similar bodies and provide input on existing policies and provision and the planning of future needs on an area basis; ensure greater dialogue between educational institutions at regional level and develop area-based approaches to monitoring provision; build on the community forums developed by the county development boards and engage in appropriate dialogue with a wide range of local interests on matters pertaining to educational disadvantage; and manage and evaluate the visiting teacher service.
